Ratchet drive for conveyers



E. (3. SMITH. RATCHET DRIVE FOR CONVEYERS.

' APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1920. 1,41 3,498. ate ted Apr- 18, 1922.

U I ED Y ST TE nm vns'r 0. SMITH, OFTCIHIGAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TOINrEENArroEAE HAEvEsrEE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY. 1 Y

Pic. 7, i

" RATGHET DRIVE GONVEYERS. I

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ERNEST C. SMITH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of 5 Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ratchet Drives for Conveyers, of which the following isa full, clear, andexact specification. I

3 My invention relatesto mechanical movements, and more particularly toone wherein reciprocating movement is translated into slow rotarymovement through'a pawl and ratchet device at variable degrees of speed.One object of my invention is to provide a device of this typeparticularly: adapted for use in connection with the conveyer or aprondrive of a manure spreader, and which will meet all requirements of adrive in this location.

Anotherobj set is to simplify the construction of such drives and reducethe number of parts employed to a minimum, while-providing means forvarying the speed of transmission or rendering the transmission idle andassuring positive transmission of move- .mentat all speeds. I With theseand other objects in view, I

employ a rocking lever or member having 9 and extends forwardly, and isconnected one arm connected to a pawl and ratchet de- 0 vice of novelconstruction fixed to the conveyer shaft, and itsiother arm connectedto."a reciprocating drive element actuated'by an eccentric on the axle.The .connection be- ;tween the leverarm and drive element being alsonovel. 1

s F My invention,acc0rdingly,consists of'the organization, details ofconstruction, parts,

or their equivalents, hereinafter described,

wardly extending, arm of the rocking memf bar 7, and has a'ratchct wheel21 fixed thereto., At oppositeflsides of the ratchet wheel I andmoreparticularly defined in the claims. 40; Referring to the drawing-''Fig'ure'l is a side elevation of a spreader with' my transmissionmechanism applied.

-thereto'; and, Q 5

Fig. 2 is an 7 enlarged retransmission mechanism. .2 My invention isillustrated in connection with a manure spreader" comprising the usualiwheel 'supportedbody'A, at the rear of which thereis mounted the beaterB. secondary beater 'C, and scatterer D, all driven from plan View. of.the

V the rear. axle by.mechanism on the, o therside rear there is securedan upright angle iron "eccentric ring'18,'and to saidring is attached Atthe rear end fthelrockin'g member? Specifieationof Letters Patent.Patented. Apr, 18 1922. application filedmarch 26.1920. seriaim.369,075. V A

of the spreader body and not shown. Parts 05 5118 draft and steeringgear are shown.

' At the side of the spreader body near the member 5 with one webextending out wardly. To web there is secure dav for-f wardlyextendlngbracket 6, and on this bracket there 1s "mounted a horizontallyextending rocklng member or lever .7. This member has its forward end.vertically'.

'gr o oved'0r forked as indicated' 8 Fig. 2). Th1s groove or forkcooperates with a strap 9 secured to the body of the spreader, and

formed with a portion. spaced therefrom :WhlCll is engaged by said forkand acts as a guide for the member.

- Themember 7 has its forwar'd 'arn'l formed with an arcuate slo-t lO,which extends from near the forked end of the arm rearwardly 'to a pointin proximity to'the' pivot 11'. i At.

the point nearest'the pivot the slot 10lwidens land formsa ltriangularenlarged portion 12,

which is of a-width at its base equal to or 7 slightly greater than thethrow of the'eccentric, hereinafter described. The slot 10 receives' theoutwardly bent end 13 ofa link 14, which passes under strap to .anadjusting lelver l 5'gpivoted to the for- .ward :end of the'gspreader.Fixed to the axle 16-,is anQeccentric which carries the an arm orpitman19 extending upwardly Yand pivotally connectedto the bent end 13 of thelink 14- at the outer side of theslot 10.

The driyeshaft- 20 "for the apron or conveyerf 2031s located below theend of the reararms 22 are pivotally mounted 'onthe shaftf 20, andextend forwardly and rearwardly respectively to a point beyond theperiphery of the ratchet wheel, wherethey-are bent or hooke'd andreturned for some distance on g the opposite sideofsaidwheel.

there is' pivotally connected, a pair of links 23, the rear one of whichis pivoted behind @Qd-lo8lOWhth6. forward e'lhese diverge downwardly,and their ends are bent inwardly at 24 and pass through the hooked endsof the arms 22 beyond the rim of wheel 21. On each of the bent ends 24of the links and within the hooked ends of arms 22 there is mounted apawl 25, the rear one extending downwardly and the forward one upwardly,and each held in contact with the ratchet wheel by a spring 26.

It will be evident from the construction above described that rocking ofthe member 7 on its pivot will cause alternate engage ment of the pawls25 with the ratchet wheel, and cause a slow and almost continuous rotarymovement of the shaft 20 to move the upper run of apron 20' in arearward di rection. The rocking of the member 7, as will be evident, iseffected through reciprocation of the pitman 19, and the extent of therocking movement is determined by the position of the actuating elementin the slot 10, the slowest movement being transmitted when it is at theextreme outer end of this slot.

When it is desired to render the transmission idle, the lever is drawnback to the position shown in Fig. 1, which places the actuating elementin the widened part 12 of the slot, where it rec-iprocates idly. Thedotted line positions shown in Fig. 1 illustrate one active position ofthe mechanism.

It will be seen from the above description that I have provided a simpleand effective device torthe purposes described, and while I havedescribed a specific embodiment of my invention, any modificationthereof with in the scope of the appendant claims may be made.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A drive mechanism comprising a rocking member having an arm, meansfor rocking the member including a reciprocating drive element shiftablyconnected with the arm, means for shifting the drive element along thearm, and means for causing the rocking member to become inoperative whenthe drive element is shifted to a certain posit-ion on said arm. Y

2. A drive mechanism comprising a rocking member pivoted between itsends, means for rocking the member including a reciprocating driveelement shiftably connected to one arm of said member, means forshifting the drh'e element along said arm, a driven element operativelyconnected to the other arm of the member, and means for causing meansfor causing said rocking member to become inoperative when the pitman ismoved to one end of the slot.

4. A drive mechanism for spreader aprons comprising a rocking membersupported between its ends and having one of its arms formed with a slotenlarged at one end, a reciprocating drive element received in the slot,a driven element operatively connected to the other arm of the member,and means for shifting the drive element to and from the enlargedportionof the slot.

5. In a drive mechanism, a pivotally supported member formed with alongitudinal slot enlarged at one end, a reciprocating drive elementreceived in the slot, and means for changing the position of the driveelement in the slot.

6. In a drive mechanism, a pivotally supported member formed with alongitudinal slot enlarged at the end toward the pivot, a reciprocatingdrive element received in the slot, and means for changing the positionof the drive element in the slot.

7 In a drive mechanism, a lever pivotally supported between its ends andwith one arm formed with alongitudinal slot enlarged at one end, areciprocating drive element received in the slot, and means for changingthe position of the drive element" in the slot.

8. In a drive mechanism, a lever pivotally supported between its endsandwith one arm formed with a longitudinal slot enlarged at the endtoward thepivot, a reciprocating drive element received in the'slot, andmeans for changing the position of the drive element in the slot. I

9. In a drive mechanism, alever pivotally supported between its ends andwith one arm formed with a slot which has a triangular enlarged portionat one end, a reciprocating drive element received in the slot andhaving a throw substantially equal to the length of the base of saidenlargement, and

means for shifting the reciprocating ele-- ment from position in saidenlargement, where it operates idly, to position in the other portion ofthe slot, where it rocks the lever.

10. In a drive mechanism, a centrally pivoted lever having one armformed with anarcuate slot terminating at the end toward the pivot in atriangular enlarged portion,

a reciprocating drive element connected in the slot and having a throwsubstantially equal to the length of the baseof said enlargement, andmeans for shifting the reciprocating element from position in saidenlargement, where it operates idly, to variouspositions in the arcuatepart-of the slot,

where it rocks the lever.

11. In a drive mechanism, a rocking arm having its free end forked; afixed guide bar engaged by said fork, andmeans for rocking thearmcom-prisinga reciprocating-element shiftable along the rocking arm. tovary its throw.

12. A ratchet drive mechanism comprisinga shaft, a ratchet wheel fixedthereto, an arm pivoted on the'shaft at each side of the ratchet andhooked across its periphery, a driving member adapted to reciprocatetoward and from said ratchet, a pair of links pivoted to the'member atdifierent points and having their ends connected across the 10

